Learning and Loving in Atanga

An interesting day today where I have experience a few lows, but end the day with optimism and hope. The day started out just fine, or maybe not, usually they trip to school is not that tough (although it was on Monday, when Isaac took the wrong bike), but today my small bike seemed extra small, and I was struggling to get my knees past the handlebars as I pedaled. The midterms ended after first period today, which meant it was time to teach Senior 2 and Senior 3 again. Hoorah! More time in the classroom. This afternoon I started to mark (grade) the S3 midterms and their results were not close to good. I wondered what I could do to help these students understand mathematics in such a short time. It seems that there are not as many strong students at Atanga SS as there were in 2009, and without these capable few, it seems some of the studying and the dedication amongst the other students is a bit lost. I then tried to get a hold of Caroline Mosby and Meghan Grass through facebook, as I wanted to tell them that their five pages of goofy photos and goodbye card for Ocwa Alfred was now prominently displayed on his front room wall for all the world to see. I had texted Cathy Barry to let her know Mary Grace’s photo was also on the wall. ( I am not sure if Mike knows how to text, maybe Ed Poth should teach him). But here is the cool part, isn’t it neat that something you gave someone, these cards are now hanging half a world away….. encouraging each visitor to ask who is Caroline, who is Meghan, and who is Toben? Still discouraged by the math difficulties of our students, but I came home to finish a wonderful book (Love Does by Bob Goff). It talks about loving in such a way that our love actually does something. Our as the Biloxi kids know not only having your heart in the right place, but your feet in the right place too. He only uses the word whimsy about 100 times, so I was reminded of my mother and her advice “to have a sense of whimsy” and who better than Bob G. who considers his office, Tom Sawyer Island at Disneyland (just read the book already). It is also cool that both Sarah Allen and Isaac have already completed this book, and we continue our journey together as teachers. __________________________________________________________________________________ I now have one simple goal for the rest of 2012, and that is to love each of you better. And when I say you I mean my family, my friends, and most important all of you that I have not met yet. “And for me, I’ve realized that I used to be afraid of failing at the things that really mattered to me, but now I’m more afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.” -- Bob Goff